Furthermore, its data shows that mobile viewing on the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S is supported for 37% and 32% respectively, while only 17% of beauty websites are supported on the 4th generation iPad.

“Anyone who has visited a website that isn’t mobile-friendly knows how frustrating – or even impossible – it is to browse and navigate it on their mobile device,” says Matt Anderson, hibu Chief Digital Officer.

“With consumers increasingly searching local businesses on their smartphones and tablets, it’s crucial that firms have websites that are mobile-friendly so that they continue to attract customers and don’t fall behind their competitors.”

Mobile

Despite some businesses already capitalizing on mobile marketing, the research also highlights that more than half of U.S. small and medium-sized (SMBs) websites are not set up to enable customers to research or make purchases on mobile devices.

With 56% of U.S. adults using a smartphone, SMBs without a mobile-friendly website are missing the opportunity to reach more customers and drive sales, says Hibu.

Tablet adoption in the U.S. has almost doubled in the past year, and a third of American adults now own one, which makes it slightly conserning that the figures are so low for sites that support tablet viewing.

The iPhone 5 is the most popular mobile device for SMEs to design their website for; although the Android-powered Galaxy S range of phones is close behind.

“Business owners may feel daunted by mobile technology, but in reality they don’t need any technical skills to ensure that their site works well and looks great on any device, or even to optimize it specifically for smartphones or tablets,” adds Anderson.

Hibu’s research takes a look at a number of different industries in the U.S. and shows that 94% of smartphone users use their phone to search for information about local businesses and services and this is only set to increase, which means SMBs simply cannot afford not to optimize their website for mobile.

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